Chapter 25
’That’s a first, man. She called you a bastard!’ his wolf said, and Sebastian knew that if his wolf had his own form, he would be cracking up with mirth. Sebastian himself couldn’t believe she had called him that without even a trace of fear. Did she have any idea how many people he had sentenced for far lesser crimes than that?
“I can’t believe you let her stay, Seb,” Matt remarked when they returned to Sebastian’s office. He had brought back the girl’s wheelchair, expecting to be told to hurl her onto it and take her to the waiting jet, but instead he had been told to take her back into the healing room because she had agreed to participate in the Luna’s competition.
The Luna’s competition? Was the girl courting death p>
Did she have any idea what it was like?
“She wants to earn the position and prove her worth. Let her do it,” Sebastian mused indifferently, his back to Matt as he looked out the glass wall at his world, a glass of champagne balanced between his slender fingers.
“You can’t let her do that. The elders won’t ever approve a wolfless. She’s just going to waste her time and her life instead of going away to start a new one,” Matt reasoned, not understanding what had come over Sebastian to give her this chance to compete with she-wolves who were anything but ordinary.
Sebastian let out a low chuckle. “The elders set the game, and if she wins, they can’t do anything but crown her Luna, and my wife. Which I strongly doubt she will. The least that will happen is her killing herself in the competition. There’s a slim chance she’ll pass any of it without a wolf, though I would be disappointed if all that defiance was a bluff,” Sebastian added, a faint pull at his lips. The fool believed being a Luna was an easy feat?
Not in the Silver Pack.
Other packs might pick anyone to be their Luna simply because she turned out to be a mate, but not in his pack. Sebastian strongly believed people had to earn things. A weak Luna would do nothing but drag down the Alpha and the pack alongside herself.
He had wanted to save her from her foolishness, to send her away where he would never have to cross paths with her again, where she could leave and avoid being beaten again, not that he cared so much what happened to her, but he didn’t like being affected by her or getting hit with arousal whenever he perceived the scent of daisies. Getting forced into heat wasn’t something Sebastian liked so much.
Yet, it seemed she had chosen death rather than freedom.
“She said she was rejected by a sworn mate in Moonwillow. Do you have any idea who he is?” Sebastian asked blankly, swirling his glass and his eyes on his private jet flying away in the sky.
Viola Linden. He had once heard that name before, because he recalled a time when a certain someone had mentioned it to him more than once.
Zoe, his only family left, his sister. Though he still had other relatives, to Sebastian, Zoe was his only family, and no other person would ever fit into that circle again.
Zoe had looked up to this Viola Linden online.
But he had never said anything to stop her from admiring someone from that pack, because he never said no to Zoe. He could deny the world and every single person anything, but not her.
She would shove her phone in his face to show him what this Viola had done. Sebastian had been annoyed and irritated, but he had no choice but to smile and pretend he was interested in watching this Viola live her spoiled life as a princess.
Hadn’t she been a Beta’s daughter? He didn’t care about what the girl did online to influence many in her pack, including Zoe, who was picky about the people she allowed to affect her.
But no doubt, Viola had been cast aside for being wolfless. No one had ever gone wolfless in the Silver Pack, so they did not have the Hollow system like most other packs.
Every year, there was always one or two wolves who didn’t find their wolf immediately, but in the end, they turned out to be late bloomers. Viola’s case didn’t seem like that, there was no trace of a wolf’s scent on her, not a single hint. He couldn’t help but wonder how that came to be.
Apart from the mating essence scent of Daisy that still annoyingly clung to his stomach, she smelled entirely human. A foolishly brave human.
’But she is still our mate and she has a spirit that wants to fight to be your Luna p>
’It won’t get her anywhere but her grave without a wolf,’ Sebastian scoffed.
Matt, who was checking through his phone for information Sebastian had asked him to verify, announced, “I found it. She was a sworn mate to Evan, the new Alpha of Moonwillow, but on the day of her awakening, he chose a she-wolf named Leni instead, which placed this Viola into the Hollow system they have in Moonwillow. She’s been there for four years p>
Sebastian took in the information without a flicker of change to his handsome face, only a faint twitch of his jaw. Evan, the son of the previous Alpha who had committed the unforgivable against Sebastian, fueling his deep hatred for the pack. Sebastian had heard about Evan and had seen him once or twice in other packs where they unfortunately met.
He had listened to Evan speak among the werewolves and studied the man. He was a fool, utterly unobservant, and talked too much for an Alpha heir.
How had that fool been crowned Alpha when he had an older brother? And furthermore, this Viola, what did she see in Evan? He didn’t want anything to do with Moonwillow werewolves, especially not this niñita (little girl) who thought herself an adult.
Nonetheless, he couldn’t help remembering the anger and determination in her eyes, the desire for revenge against the Moonwillow.
’You two have a similar goal. You also want to destroy Moonwillow. Join hands, kiss, make up, and finish the pack,’ his wolf said simply.
Sebastian mentally grimaced and replied, ’I don’t kiss little girls p>
“What more is there about her?” Sebastian asked Matt.
“Nothing more. That’s all I found online. Every other thing about her is wipe away,” Matt mused, putting away his phone before going to sit on the couch in the office, his eyes fixed thoughtfully on Sebastian’s back.
“Shouldn’t we just drug her and hurl her away from here, Seb? Elder Brenna’s daughter will be among the participating she-wolves, and you know what that means. She will crush the girl so easily, and the bond would end up affecting you. If you end up being exposed in public, everyone would see they could get to you through a weak mate.” Matt reasoned, making sure Sebastian could see that giving the girl the chance to be among the she-wolves wasn’t actually going to do either of them any good.
Elder Brenna had been among the elders because she was one of the she-wolves who fought beside Sebastian’s grandfather to build this pack and keep its name strong. She had brought her daughter to participate in the competition years ago when the second late Luna had been chosen, but the late Evangeline had come from another mighty pack and completely overshadowed the elder’s daughter.
Elder Brenna would do anything to make her daughter win this time around, just like every other elder who had a female relative. The chance of this wolfless girl winning, or even being alive after the competition, would be so slim.
Another reason why Matt didn’t think this girl should be allowed in this was because an Alpha was known to marry someone who wasn’t only strong, but who would also add to his pack politically. This girl no longer had a pack nor any name, not to mention she was in a wheelchair. Oh man, this would be tough if Sebastian didn’t just agree to force her away so she could go and enjoy her life in the human world.
Sebastian’s lips twitched up at the side as he turned to look at Matt and said,
“You know me. I do things fairly, and it would be unfair not to make her wake up to the reality that there is no place for someone like her here.” Not just that, Sebastian, despite himself, looked forward to seeing if she had the spirit, or if it was all bark and no bite.
No doubt she would give up at the first sight of what she was up against.
’What if she didn’t? Oh, I will make you eat my shit, man. I have a feeling my girl will show you p>
’I will eat more than your shit. And when did she become your girl?’ Sebastian asked with a dark scowl.
’Since she challenged you p>
Sebastian had been with his wolf long enough to know that he rarely got attached to any of their mates, because it was a known thing that Sebastian didn’t stick with nor keep any of them. His wolf had become so used to him discarding them that when they first saw the girl, he was picky and wanted her rejected like the others.
But now that the little idiot had insulted and challenged him, something that hadn’t happened before, his damn wolf was going against him to cheer for her. Well, Sebastian looked forward to seeing her back out or fail. Little girls like her should be playing dress-up, not being in the big game.
After a moment of silence,
“What if a miracle happens and she wins?” Matt questioned, his curiosity grave. “She doesn’t meet the requirements of your prophecy like the others. If the wrong one wins again, the cost will be paid in blood and life. You’ve already lost two because of it p>
Sebastian’s fingers suddenly tightened around the champagne glass, shattering it into pieces. The fragments cut into his palm, yet he didn’t flinch or blink. His eyes only hardened like steel.
“Whether she loses or wins, it will be the same outcome for her. She, or anyone else who wins, will end up like Natalie and Eva. In the grave,” he remarked nonchalantly, turning away from the window and seating himself behind his desk to complete his paperwork, rather than waste another moment on Viola Linden, the suicidal niñita who didn’t know what was good for her.